


days as fair as dreams

by ashglory



Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén
Genre: Fluff, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 03:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17952950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashglory/pseuds/ashglory
Summary: You’ve dreamed of this before. Not exactly this, not exactly here. But, just… a place at a table. A smile to greet you in the morning. Happiness in full bloom.A home.A quiet breakfast, and quieter reassurances.





	days as fair as dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to laylaisthename on tumblr for beta-ing!   
> This was supposed to be a Valentine's Day fic but I just forgot to post it here until now. Whoops.

The kitchen smells like waffles. Syrup, cloyingly sweet. Deep roasted coffee.

You’ve dreamed of this before. Not exactly this, not exactly here. But, just… a place at a table. A smile to greet you in the morning. Happiness in full bloom.

A home.

Your hands start to tremble.

Daniel’s smile falters in the middle of a story about… last week’s debacle with the Rangers’ fan mail department. Something like that? You hadn’t been paying attention to his words, more on him; the way he shifts as he speaks, like he’s trying to lean his whole body into each twist and turn of his tales. The fluff of his sleep-mussed hair, the way the sun streaming through the window paints it gold in the morning light. It’s hard not to notice him.

The sound of your name breaks you out of your musings. The emphasis makes it seem like this isn’t the first time he’s called out to you, the crease between his eyebrows evidence of his worry.

“Are you okay?” he asks, reaching across to curl his hand over yours. The weight of it is grounding.

“Yeah,” you say, voice coming out more ragged than you intended. It doesn’t seem to convince him, and you find yourself straining for the right words to explain. “I’m- it’s…”

You’ve dreamed of this before. You were not the only telepath at the Farm, and your defiance following your recapture had not gone unpunished. It had to be stamped out, but physical pain alone would not have been enough. Your dreams had always been your comfort and it wasn’t long before they figured a way to rip even that from you.

You came to loathe sleep for a reason.

“I need this to be real,” you admit at last, opening your eyes again to meet Daniel’s face.

This–a warm body to wake up curled around, eyes that don’t look at you in disgust, a hand not afraid to touch you, a voice to tell you that you are loved–is better than anything you ever could have imagined for yourself. Now that you know how this feels, losing it would ruin you. You don’t think you could handle another hope shattered.

The sound of a shifting chair, soft footfall of bare feet against wood. You don’t even realized that you’ve brought your hands up to grind the heels of your palms against your eyes to hide the tears, because it’s a surprise when Daniel’s hands circle your wrists to gently pull them away.

He’s down on one knee by your chair. Like you’d kneel at an altar. Like a knight before their lord. Like someone by the love of their life, someone with something important to say, something life-changing-

His determination surrounds you like an embrace. “This is real,” Daniel says, deeper, more serious than he’s ever sounded before. You think you’re addicted to the sound of your name on his lips, the way he says it like a prayer. “I’m here, as long as you’ll have me.”

It’s gentle, the way his hands reach up towards your face. The way he lifts himself up, just a bit, enough to give you the space to retreat if you need it.

You don’t.

“I love you,” he says on an exhale, breath like the touch of feathers on your face. The first press of his lips on yours is as sweet as honey, soft as snow.

You’ve dreamed of this before. But even if you are sleeping now, this is the first time you let yourself believe that it will still be there, waiting for you, when you wake.


End file.
